Monday, August 15, 2005

Did they really say that? Part II

Another incredible audible, heard today on WJR again. Someone from Israel, presumably Israeli, presumably Jewish, says "Let's hope this [the forced move of the last Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip] will lead to the end of the suicide bombings."

Huh?!?!?

Nobody's really expecting that, are they? Because it's not going to happen. Not because of a concession on Israel's part, at least.

Does anyone believe that the lynching of African Americans in the south happened because the police stopped harrassing the KKK? Or that Hitler retreated into his bunker because he heard the Americans were giving chocolate to the German kids?

No. The lynchings only stopped when legislation (not court decisions, incidentally) was passed and enforced to integrate the south, and when African Americans especially risked their lives to stand up for their rights. And we know the show of force Hitler faced.

There are two possibilities regarding the ability of the suicide bombers to "negotiate" with others. On the one hand, perhaps they are, despite the Authority's insistence to the contrary, completely in bed with the mainline Palestinians; in which case the PA has been encouraging their acts while the "peace process" has gone on. It seems unlikely they would stop now. The second possibility is that the PA is telling the truth, and that the bombers are rogue terrorists, whom no one controls. This leads to the same result.

As for the move from Gaza, it's a done deal. Israel can recoup something from it. But not because it's going to affect the suicide bombers. It may or may not affect the PA.

But what it is doing is showing the world once again the lengths Israel is going, unilaterally, to get along with their neighbors. Unfortunately, the task of fighting the suicide bombers may involve really pissing those same neighbors off.